Posted by
Andrews on Wednesday, September 02, 2009 11:11:19 PM
Often we will hear that the "public option" will not force the private insurers out of business, and that the government "cost effectiveness" studies will not be binding and will not be forced on any private insurers or hospitals. To which I have to say "nonsense!"
Decisions of insurers are not binding either, there is no requirement that you have insurance to get medicine, nor that you sue insurance to pay for it, but that did not prevent the following from happening:
I was receiving pain medication, an opiate medicine, for my condition. At some point, my doctor changed my prescription to a higher dose, but did not write a new prescription until the first ran out. As a result, my insurer refused to pay for the new prescription as I "should not" be out of medication.
However, when I then offered to pay out of pocket, the pharmacy refused to sell me the medication. Worse, they wrote notes on the prescription, while it was in their possession, saying insurance would not pay, so I was going to have the same problem at any other pharmacy. Eventually I found a pharmacy that was willing to argue with my insurance company, but for a time it seemed that my insurance company's policies would prevent me from getting medicine, even paying out of pocket.
Now, of course this is largely because everyone is afraid of the war on drugs and fear delivering opiates in a manner that could open them up to prosecution. (I argued many times this is one of the many ways the war on drugs harms total innocents, see "
It Doesn't Matter to ME...", "
Drug Legalization", "
Who Does It Harm?", "
A Question" and "
Standing By My Principles".) However, my point is that a non-binding decision by an insurance company, combined with vague federal guidelines on narcotics led to this situation. How much more potent will be the "nonbinding" opinions of the cost effectiveness panels?
No, once the government gets involved, binding or not, their decisions might as well be law, as the amount of power the government wields in the medical field means no one dares to cross it.
POSTSCRIPT
For those interested, my writing on recent medical legislation can be found in "
The Insurance Sham", "
First Kill All the Lawyers, Looking Back at Katrina", "
A Cure for Cancer?" and "
My Health Care Plan", as well as articles linked therein. And, for those who wish to go farther and look into my even more radical thoughts on deregulating medicine, I recommend "
Medical Regulations" and "
Medical Regulation II". I won't bother linking to my arguments on decriminalizing drugs, as those posts can all be found by following the links above as well.